How Short Order Poems Began

Short Order Poetry began with the seed of an idea planted in 2014 by an LA Times article my sister Nancy sent me about an artist composing poems on her manual typewriter at local farmers markets.It took a year to find a manual typewriter - a 50 pound Underwood - thanks to Carol Yotsuda of the Garden Island Arts Council.Once I had a typewriter I needed a poetry making location. I happened to be in a ceramics class saying as much to a fellow student, Micki, who said she was opening a shop and I should come type poems there. For a year I hauled this beast to her storefront, Kiko Simple Goods. I began typing poems to order in the alley leading to Kiko for Kapaa Art Walk, the first Saturday of every month.That first time all I brought were scraps of paper to type on. It was on Kealia Beach with dog walking pals where we conceived of the diner theme. My 20 years in restaurants lent itself naturally. The following year another dog walking friend, Mary Nakamura, found the Remington 5 at a garage sale. She rallied four other friends to pitch in to buy it from Nazira for my birthday. When Nazira and I finally met, she told me the story of Reva, the UCLA professor who typed her thesis on the Remington 5, and left her the Remington when she died at 100 years-old. Seated on the wood bench in the alleyI wait for poem customers to approach and request a poem. Sometimes a line forms and I am there tapping away on the keys for three hours non-stop. I don't know where the words come from and I try not to over-think the images that fling themselves into my brain.There are two rules to the poem making:1. No backstory. Just give me the word or phrase and resist explaining anything.2. Read the poem back to me aloud. This is the best part for me.On a final note for the curious: I have a Bachelor's in Journalism from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. My MFA in Poetry is from Antioch University in Culver City. I grew up in San Diego and have three sisters and a brother.My husband and I moved to Kauai in 2001. We have a small country of animals and a universe of treasured friends.

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While on Kauai you can find poem overlays at Kiko Simple Goods in Kapaa. See samples in the Poetry Diner.